Light assemblies mounted on motorcycles are generally fixed in place so as to be properly aligned to provide a light beam to illuminate a desired area in front of the motorcycle when the motorcycle is generally vertically aligned with the ground. However, motorcycles lean with respect to the ground as they make left and right turns. This can cause the light assembly to either shine light down into the ground before the desired area or up into the air beyond the desired area. This last condition is particularly problematic when there is fog or smoke, as light shining into such fog can be reflected back to the driver of the motorcycle, causing undesirable glare and interfering with the view of the driver.
Some attempts have been made to compensate for the tilting of the light beam caused by tilting of a vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,085 to Tabata et al discloses a motorcycle headlight which is adjustable in response to tilting of the motorcycle. A sensor senses a change of position of the motorcycle and sends a signal to one or more solenoids to adjust the position of the headlight with respect to the vehicle to compensate for vehicle tilting. However, Tabata et al is a relatively complex and expensive mechanism, and has not seen significant commercial use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,469 to Alphen et al discloses a motorcycle lighting system wherein a gyroscope adjusts an optical system to compensate for the angle of inclination of the motorcycle as it turns. However, Alphen et al, and the other known designs have relatively complex and expensive mechanisms, and has not seen significant commercial use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,593,075 to Hensley discloses a headlight system for locomotives where a headlight is connected to a pendulum by a bevel gear so that as the locomotive turns around a bend the pendulum pivots with gravity and urges the headlight to pivot about an axis vertical with respect to the vehicle.
It would be highly desirable to have a low cost, easy to construct light assembly for a motorcycle which compensates for the lean of the motorcycle as it turns.